[u][b]11:05 New Year's Day, 2026
Downtown, Star City, California[/b][/u]

Affliction leaned against the side of a 24hour gas station, cigarette between her lips, hands in her pockets. Things were quiet. That was nice. That meant she could chain-smoke to her heart's content, and stand broodily at the corner of this gas station feeling the pain of the day. And of yesterday. And the day before that. Things being quiet meant everything was great for all the other heroes in town. They got to sit back, relax, spend the night in. For Affliction, it meant no release. If she had to explain it to someone, she’d tell them to imagine the worst headache they could possibly have, ever, in their life, a debilitating, blinding headache, and then to go stick their dick in a lawnmower. Imagine that, she’d tell them. She spat out the end of her cigarette and gave it a good stomp. 

Time to go for a walk. She replaced her cigarette with a new one, lighting it as she crossed the street. Walking made it worse. It felt wrong to wish for bad guys, and yet here she was. 

As if in answer, a scream echoed from a couple of blocks down. Affliction broke out into a run. She stopped short of rounding the corner, peeking around the corner. 

"You think you're a big tough guy, huh?" A large bald white man held another man against the wall.

They both looked drunk. The building across the street was a dive bar. No villains here tonight, just some drunk assholes.

"Get offa me!" Said the second man, trying to push the first man away.

Affliction stepped round the corner. [color=a0410d]"Hey, break it up. Go home."[/color]

"What you think you're big and tough too?" Said the first man, less drunk than she'd originally assumed. He turned to face her, his eyes were red. "You shouldn't meddle in things you have no business in." 

She exhaled smoke, still holding the cigarette in her mouth. [color=a0410d]"It's not worth it, not tonight, just go home"[/color] She said, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"Not worth it? You know how much money this guy owes?" The man laughed, he slammed the other man against the wall again, knocking him out. He dropped him on the floor of the alley. "So obviously you think you're some kind of hero." He said as he advanced towards her. He punched the brick of the wall, cracking it. Maybe there were villains here tonight.

The distance between them shrank in the blink of an eye. He was fast. But she was faster. She sidestepped, sticking her foot out to catch his ankle. As he fell she grabbed the back of his neck and slammed him into the ground. And then she felt release. All the pain she'd been holding in, building up, washed out of her. It felt like an ocean she didn't have to hold anymore.

Another scream echoed through the city, the man under her hand began to writhe and flail. She grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed 911, then set the phone down near his head. 

[color=a0410d]"Play nice and they'll give you painkillers or something... Probably."[/color] she said, standing up. She took her cigarette out of her mouth and held it between her fingers.

She'd gone overboard, she thought as she watched the man convulse. She knew it. This guy didn't deserve [i]all[/i] that, it just felt [i]so[/i] nice not to feel [i]so much[/i]. She crouched back down, grabbing the man at the neck again, taking back pain till he stopped screaming. He still hissed with pain, teeth clenched, drawing in air like it was poison. She rolled him over, and he cried out again from moving. She took the cigarette in her hand and smashed the lit end against the skin on the back of his hand. He screamed and cursed and tried to hit her, but pain made him weak, and slow. She held his hand down by the wrist with one hand, and held the cigarette to his skin with the other.

[color=a0410d]"Don't let me catch you out here again."[/color] She said with a venom. 

Flicking the butt of the cigarette away, she stood up and started walking. She replaced her cigarette with a new one, and lit it as she crossed the street.